


Bedtime story

by Wolf_Potato



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Countries Using Human Names
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2017-11-09
Packaged: 2019-01-27 01:25:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12570600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolf_Potato/pseuds/Wolf_Potato
Summary: Alfred and Matthew have to venture into the forest to retrieve the lost pages of their storybook.





	1. Through the garden

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place when Alfred and Matthew are little kids and living together with Arthur.

_Through the garden, under the grove_

_Where we wander, no one knows_

_Through the thicket, under the brush_

_We'll go home, in the hush_

 

~~~~

    Matthew awoken to the tune of that lullaby he sat up and looks around the dark bedroom to try to find the source. He saw Alfred sitting on a chair by the open window, looking out into the night. 

"Alfred?" Matthew says questioningly "you alright?"

"hm?" Alfred responds "oh, did I wake you."

"why are you awake?" Matthew asks. 

"I can't sleep" Alfred answers.

Matthew then jumps out of bed and runs over to the closet. Alfred looks at Matthew curiously as his brother searches the closet for something. Soon Matthew stumbles over carrying a book and placing it on the chair Alfred is sitting on. Alfred put the book on the window sill and pulls Matthew up onto the chair. 

"if you can't sleep, then lets read a bedtime story" Matthew requested.

Alfred nods in response with a smile on his face. They open the first page and start to read it aloud to each other. Then a sudden burst of wind comes through the open window, Pages tear out of the book and fly around the room. Alfred and Matthew run around the room trying to gather the pages. They manage to gather half, but saw the other half fly out the window in the wind. They run up to the window and look out to see the pages fall into the forest. 

"what are we going to do?" Matthew cries.

"we go get them" Alfred answers as he walks over to the toy chest. 

"we can't go in the forest alone" Matthew states.

"don't worry, i'll keep us safe" Alfred says as he pulls a wooden sword and slingshot from the chest. 

He hands Matthew the slingshot then continues to look for more items in the chest and closet. Matthew looks at the slingshot and was about to protest, but when he looks up Alfred was already out of the room and on his way outside. Matthew quickly grabs Kuma off the bed and follows his brother.

Matthew caught up to Alfred who was tip-toeing in the hallway.

"let's get Arthur" Matthew suggests.

"no way," Alfred says "we can do this by ourselves, and we're just gonna grab the pages and go all we need is light."

"I .. I guess so" Matthew replies.

"good," Alfred responds "now you go grab a candle."

They tip-toe their way through the house to not wake up Arthur. On their way through Matthew grabs an unlit candle off a table while Alfred retrieves some matches from the kitchen. They make it outside to the garden without waking Arthur. Matthew picks up some rocks along the way and put them in a little bag Alfred hands to him. While Alfred lights the candle as they enter the dark forest. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> had to go back and change everything to present tense, tell me if I missed anything


	2. Under the grove

Alfred and Matthew walk hand in hand into the forest, the only thing illuminating their way is the candle Alfred holds. Alfred used a long piece of rope to tie the half empty storybook to his back and used the rest to create a makeshift belt to hold his wooden sword, he holds the candle with one hand and Matthew's hand with the other. While Matthew has a bag of stones tied around his waist, as he uses his arm to hold up Kuma, he holds Alfred's hand with one hand and his slingshot in the one holding Kuma. After a while of walking Matthew looks up to the tree tops, only being able to see the stars in the breaks of the leaves, and looks back down to not trip over tree roots. The only noises they can hear are their own footsteps, hoots of owls, and the chirping of insects. 

"how far into the forest do you think they went?" Matthew asks.

"dunno," Alfred answers "but we might find them soon."

"J'espère" Matthew whispers.

"what did you say?" Alfred asks.

"oh nothing" Matthew replies.

Everything seems calm as they walk through the dark forest in search of the papers. That peace fades away when the forest goes silent. As soon as they notice they stop in their tracks, listening. Not a single noise can be heard, they huddle closer together. Then jump at the sound of a snapping branch, and see a glimpse of a shadow fly out of sight. The snapping gets louder and louder as the source of it moves closer. They quickly run deeper into the forest as fast as their little legs can go. As the thing gets closer they pay less attention to the ground below them. Alfred trips and tumbles down a hill taking Matthew down with him. They fall through some bushes as they hit the bottom of the hill with a thud.

Matthew sits up, dizzy from the fall, and looks around for Alfred. 

"you alright?" Alfred groans.

"yeah" Matthew replies as he stumbles onto his feet.

"good," Alfred mutters "can you help me up?"

Matthew stumbles in the darkness over to Alfred and pulls him up onto his feet. 

"I don't hear the creature anymore" Matthew states.

"we can't be too sure" Alfred says. 

They wait in silence for a moment listening for the smallest sound.

"We need to find the candle," Alfred mumbles "it's our only light."

Alfred still had the book tied to his but his sword slipped out and dropped the candle. Matthew still has his now empty bag of rocks, but dropped Kuma and his slingshot. They stumble around in the dark trying to find their lost items. Kuma was easy to find but the sword and slingshot looks like sticks on the ground, and there was no way they were going to find the rocks. The longer they looked the more frustrated and scared they got. Matthew noticed a little flicker of light in the corner or his eye. He goes over to where the light was. It appears again but he soon realizes that it's just a little firefly, that is sitting on his slingshot. He quickly picks up the slingshot as the firefly flies off of it. Matthew follows the firefly as it flies by Alfred.

"Mattie, what are you doing?" Alfred asks.

"this firefly found my slingshot" Matthew answers.

"can you ask it to help me find my sword and the candle?" Alfred requests.

"i'll try" Matthew replies.

He holds his hand out to let the bug land on it.

"can you find his sword and candle S'il vous plaît Monsieur Firefly?" Matthew asks.

The firefly flies off his hand and behind them, they follow. the bug lands on a piece of wood, Alfred picks it up revealing it to be the sword. the firefly continues on until it lands back down on something else. Alfred runs over to it and picks up the unlit candle, his smile quickly fades away.

"the matches," Alfred whispers "I dropped them to."

"d-don't worry Al," Matthew stutters "I'll just ask Monsieur Firefly."

Matthew turns to the firefly.

"can you find the matches S'il vous plaît Monsieur Firefly?" Matthew asks.

The firefly flies around in circles around them, like it's confused. The bug then flies off past the trees, Alfred and Matthew quickly follow the bug going further into the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> J'espère- I hope  
> S'il vous plaît- please  
> Monsieur- Mr.


	3. Where we wander

They've been following the firefly for minutes, but now can see small lights appear in the distance. As they get closer the lights get brighter but still remain soft, gentle music starts to play, making the brothers relax. They soon find themselves on the edge of the what looks like a little village. Their eyes gleam in excitement and surprise when they see the inhabitants. 

"FAIRIES?!" Alfred exclaims.

Upon hearing this all the fairies scatter out of site as the village goes silent. 

"no no no wait," Alfred cries "don't go."

He runs around the small village trying to find the fairies while Matthew walks over and looks into a little house.

"pardon moi," Matthew whispers "but we just want to talk."

A single fairy peeks its head out from behind a leaf. Matthew notices and turns to face the fairy while holding his hand out towards it. The fairy slowly comes out from behind the leaf and steps onto Matthew's hand, the other fairies notice and come out of hiding as well. Alfred seeing this stops running around and walks over to Matthew. 

"what brings you here travelers?" asks the fairy.

"we went into the forest to look for our storybook pages," Matthew answers "but-"

"But we were chased by this big monster," Alfred interrupts "then we fell a-and this firefly took us here." 

"oh dear, is the monster here now?" asks the fairy.

"no, it stopped following us when we fell" answers Matthew.

"well that's good," replies the fairy " a monster has been terrorizing our village lately, and it could have been the same monster that chased you."

The brothers look at each other for a moment then look back at the fairy. 

"yeah, maybe" Alfred says.

Another older looking fairy flutters onto Matthew's hand, next the fairy they were just talking to. The other fairies gather closer together focusing on the older fairy.

"Travelers!" the old fairy belts "I am the leader of this here village, and I hear that we face the same foe, may I propose an idea."

"mama please, calm down," the previous fairy says "I know what you're thinking but these are human children."

"what, what's the idea?" Alfred asks.

The fairy leader flutters onto Alfred's shoulder, and is now in between the brothers. 

"The idea is to have you two fight the monster" 

"WHAT!?" the brothers shout in unison, as they look at the fairy leader.

"MaMa!" the other fairy shouts then flies up to the leader, "These are CHILDREN, they can't go out and fight the monster." The leader pauses for a moment, then puts her hand on the fairy's shoulder.

"listen, our magic doesn't work on the monster and we're not strong enough to fight it ourselves. We need some human help to defeat it, and these are the only two we see." the leader says, the others fairy looks down and thinks for a moment then looks back up and then at the brothers. 

"well, are you two willing to help us and defeat the monster, so you can go home with your storybook and we can go back to living in peace?" the fairy asks. The brothers look at each other then look back and nod. 

"that's great," the leader exclaims "let us give you some real weapons and armor before you go though, some enchantments won't hurt to." The crowd of fairies give a little cheer then go off to fetch items for the brothers and enchant their items. Alfred's wooden sword turns into a real sword, he has to immediately hold it with both hands with the sudden weight change. Matthew's slingshot and bag turns into a bow and quiver, he is also given some arrows to fill his quiver with. They are lastly given some small armor to wear over their nightgowns.

"You boys are all set, just head out of the village and you will have one more gift from us to help you along the way," the fairy says "you also said you were looking for your story pages, we saw so pages fly over that way" the fairy then pointed into the forest. The brothers gave a quick thanks then went in the direction the fairy pointed in and continued on their way in the forest.


End file.
